Parasitic and phoretic mites of Diptera in Israel and the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt

Certain mites (Acarina) are parasitic on insects and other arthropods or use them as a means for transport to habitats where they find more suitable environmental conditions. This article reports on phoretic and parasitic mites collected from Diptera in Israel and Egypt. Flies from the families Muscidae, Ceratopogonidae, Sphaeroceridae, Milichiidae, Sepsidae, and Ulidiidae were collected in the periphery of cowsheds and horse stables using Williams fiberglass panel (Alsynite), Monks Wood, and DuToit suction traps. Specimens of the housefly (Musca domestica) and of the stable fly (Stomoxys calcitrans) were infested mainly by Macrocheles muscaedomesticae, and to a lesser extent, by Macrocheles subbadius, trombiculid larvae, and Dendrolaelaps nymphs. Most Culicoides species (Ceratopogonidae) were infested by water-mite larvae of the families Limnesiidae, Thyasidae, and Arrenuridae, as well as by larvae of the terrestrial Trombidiidae and Neotrombidiidae, whereas representatives of the remaining dipteran families were infested mainly by astigmatid, prostigmatid, and mesostigmatid mites.